


Humanitas

by TheUniverseIsRarelySoLazy



Category: Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Genre: First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Period Typical Attitudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUniverseIsRarelySoLazy/pseuds/TheUniverseIsRarelySoLazy
Summary: Lord Peter and Bunter reflect on days gone by...
Relationships: Mervyn Bunter/Peter Wimsey
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Humanitas

**Author's Note:**

> I did it. I wrote it. After the end of Busman’s Honeymoon, how couldn’t I??

Another perfect day was coming to a close. Mervyn Bunter let his hands glide over the tablecloth of the dining room table, removing the few bumps that had lingered in his mind since he’d seen them in the corner of his eye during the afternoon. Thus finally satisfied, he turned towards the windows, taking a rare moment for himself to observe the sunset. Red clouds in front of a yellow-ish sky, the gentle warm light during the last bright hour of the day. For a moment his head was empty, no task list, no issues, no outstanding problems… just the contentment of a well managed day, of an orderly household and a quiet night. His body relaxed as he watched the sky turn darker, redder still, one hand on the windowsill.

He stood there for longer, that evening. Longer than he would normally indulge. There was no specific reason why. Maybe it was because the day had run so smoothly that he allowed himself to pause for a while.

Bunter was so lost in thought he didn’t realise he wasn’t alone in the room anymore. Only when the door was closed, he jumped slightly, the noise taking him by surprise. He turned to see his master standing in the doorway, smiling sheepishly.

“Frightfully sorry! I didn’t mean to disturb you, Bunter. I just couldn’t help but wonder what deep thoughts were going through that marvellous head of yours. You looked very far away.”

Bunter adopted a small smile. “I was merely reflecting on the day, my lord. A wholly successful one, in my humble opinion.”

“Ah, yes. How you managed to procure the cheese is a miracle. I haven’t found that type in all the shops in London… How did you do it?”

“I’d prefer to keep some secrets to myself, my lord.”

Lord Peter laughed. “Very well. You are allowed a mystery or two.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Bunter watched Lord Peter join him at the window, looking up at the sky. He sunk into quiet contemplation for a moment, then adopted a very gentle tone.

_“From the dark warren where the fir-cones lie,  
And treads one snowdrop under foot, and runs  
Over the mossy knoll, and blackbirds fly  
Across our path at evening, and the suns  
Stay longer with us…”_

“Wilde, my lord?”

Lord Peter hummed. “It felt appropriate.”

Bunter glanced at him, seeing his lord stare up at the sky still, the orange light reflected in his eyes. Something in his chest stirred at the soft look on his face, the unusually close proximity. He swallowed, opened his mouth twice before he dared asking.

“Appropriate in what way?”

Lord Peter turned his head and regarded Bunter with a curious look in his eyes. Bunter took in a sharp breath. It couldn’t be…

“While it’s thankfully behind us, I haven’t forgotten the time you pulled me single handedly out of the darkness that had clouded my mind. I… haven’t forgotten how you read to me when the nightmares… This is the one that stayed with me the most. I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

Bunter shook his head, throat closing up with emotion.

“Your well-being is all I require as thanks, my lord,” he said, trying hard to keep his voice level. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Could I?” Lord Peter whispered.

“Could you…?”

“Ask for more?”

Bunter’s breath hitched as their hands touched, as their fingers entwined.

“You used to touch me, back in the days where I couldn’t do anything for myself. Even though I didn’t react to it at first… I now remember these dark days fondly, thanks to you.”

“My lord, you have to restrain yourself,” Bunter said, yet he did not separate their hands.

“I’m not in the habit of restraining myself.”

Bunter released a choked off laugh. “Indeed you aren’t.”

They looked at each other for a long while, trying to judge the emotions in each other’s eyes. These shared moments weren’t new, but the openness was something that they hadn’t dared consider before. Emboldened by the fact that Lord Peter had closed the door behind him, Bunter allowed himself a few more thoughts than usual.

“I never asked you…” Lord Peter said. “I never asked you why you came to me after you returned home.”

“You offered me a position in your household.”

“I know, but surely that wasn’t all?”

Bunter tried to find the right words, but he was sure no matter what he’d say, it wouldn’t be adequate and could never communicate the depth of his heart. “I wondered what kind of man you’d be here. Away from the war.”

“Yet you merely found the husk of a man waiting for you. A washed-out shadow,” Lord Peter said, holding Bunter’s hand a bit closer. “A project many a person would’ve given up on.”

“I could never…” Bunter whispered.

“But why?”

“Oh, must you make me say it, my lord?”

Lord Peter smiled. “I think I will, for I need to know. You must think me entirely selfish, dear Bunter.”

“Not selfish, my lord, no. Unwise, maybe.”

“You dare call me unwise? Your impertinence knows no bounds,” he said, smiling while he did.

Bunter smiled back, enjoying the mischievousness in Lord Peter’s eyes, daring to look into them as much as he pleased.

_“And because fruitless tears bedew my cheek  
Would have thee weep with me in brotherhood;  
Fool! shall each wronged and restless spirit dare  
To taint such wine with the salt poison of own despair!”_

Bunter drew in a large breath, raising his lord’s hand, while bowing down to meet it with his lips. He bestowed the most faintest of kisses on the creamy white skin, barely a featherlight touch, yet it rippled through him like a lightning strike. The sheer audacity of his behaviour… the—

“Bunter,” he heard Lord Peter say. “You have to answer me. You have to say it out loud, else I’m too dimwitted to understand… too frightened to believe.”

Bunter didn’t dare look up, his voice a mere whisper. “I came back because I grew fond of you, and I stayed because I grew fonder with every passing hour.”

All of a sudden he felt a hand on his face, tilting it up, and then a pair of lips on his, hot and demanding, threatening to pull him under in a rush, even though the contact was so brief, it could’ve been a dream.

“Fond?” Lord Peter breathed, his face still close enough their noses touched. “Merely fond?”

“You are a cruel master,” Bunter replied. “To tease me so mercilessly.”

“Then let me be known as cruel, for I demand you tell me. Tell me if you care for me as I do for you. Tell me if I’m wrong to feel like I should court you, having no clue how to go about it. Tell me if… if you love me as I do you.”

A sob ripped through Bunter’s body as he fell to his knees, holding on to his lord’s hand, pressing his forehead against it.

“You can’t… Propriety—”

“Damnation to propriety! I will not let outdated, unwritten rules stand in the way of happiness!”

Bunter looked up with wide eyes. “Happiness?” he stammered.

Lord Peter’s face took on a determined look which made his eyes shine so brightly that Bunter swallowed a gasp. He walked quickly over to the dining room door, turned the key, removed it and put it on the table, the metal noise resounding with a sort of finality that made Bunter’s heart jump. He let himself be drawn up to his feet, standing in front of Lord Peter, feeling like he was lost at sea.

“My lord…” he breathed.

“You indulge me in everything else. Would you indulge me now and kiss me as if we were two simple men, no rank, no troubles?”

“I could never think of you as a simple man, my lord. But if you promise to forget this tomorrow… I will indulge.”

His pulse sped up as he leaned forward, kissing his lord—his lord!—again, this time with no intention to draw back, letting himself sink into the feeling as if he was someone else entirely, yet he couldn’t let go of his own self completely, as he was filled with love for this impossible man. Lord Peter’s hands found their way onto his hips, digging into his sides with a sort of physical impact Bunter hadn’t expected. No one touched him. He touched no one. And yet he wished Lord Peter would never let go again.

In a flight of utmost daring he pressed his body against Lord Peter’s, licked along his lips and was rewarded with the sweetest noise of surprise and pleasure. A fire ignited in his veins that he had deemed lost.

 _“And Love! that noble madness, whose august_  
And inextinguishable might can slay  
The soul with honeyed drugs…”

“Just for tonight let me be selfish,” Bunter whispered, a plea to God, yet the one who answered was so very human.

“As selfish as you want to be… Mervyn.”


End file.
